I Started a Joke

"I Started a Joke"
Single by Bee Gees
from the album Idea
B-side	"Kilburn Towers" (United States) "Swan Song" (France)
Released	December 1968
Format	Vinyl record 45RPM
Recorded	25 June 1968 IBC Studios, London
Genre	Rock, pop
Length	3:05
Label	Polydor (UK) Atco Records (U.S.)
Writer(s)	Barry Gibb Robin Gibb Maurice Gibb
Producer	Robert Stigwood, Bee Gees
Bee Gees singles chronology
"I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (1968) "I Started a Joke" (1968) "First of May" (1969)
Music sample "I Started A Joke"

"I Started a Joke" is a 1968 song by the Bee Gees from their album Idea, which was released in September of that year. Curiously, it was not released as a single in the UK, where buyers who could not afford the album had to content themselves with a Polydor version by Heath Hampstead.

Composition

The song is mainly written and sung by Robin Gibb. "I Started A Joke" is supposedly about someone who has done or said something horribly wrong, which results in feelings of social alienation. Another interpretation is that the song is sung from the point of view of the devil. Prior to performing the song onstage, Barry Gibb remarks that one interpretation of the song is regarding the devil.

Details and background

On 25 June was the day that completed the songs for the Idea album (except the song "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" the song was recorded while they recorded the songs for their next album Odessa).

A few songs were given a little more work, The highlight is the last new song, "I Started A Joke" one of the Bee Gees' classics with its enigmatic and thought-provoking lyrics. It must have been newly composed since Robin did not even include it on his demos of two weeks earlier.

Content

According to Robin Gibb, the melancholic melody of the song was inspired by the sounds on board an aeroplane:

“

The melody to this one was heard aboard a British Airways Vickers Viscount about a hundred miles from Essen. It was one of those old four engine 'prop' jobs, that seemed to drone the passenger into a sort of hypnotic trance, only with this it was different. The droning, after a while, appeared to take the form of a tune, which mysteriously sounded like a church choir. So it was decided! We accosted the pilot, forced him to land in the nearest village and there; in a small pub, we finished the lyrics. Actually, it wasn't a village, it was the city, and it wasn't a pub, it was a hotel, and we didn't force the pilot to land in a field... but why ruin a perfectly good story?"

”

Chart performance

Chart (1969)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart	16
Dutch Singles Chart	3
Swiss Singles Chart	5
US Billboard Hot 100	6

Parodies, appearances in other media, etc.

• The song was parodied by a Radio Free Vestibule sketch in which a voiced-over commentary takes the lyrics completely literally.
• The song appeared in the film Zoolander as covered by The Wallflowers.
• The song is featured heavily in the ending of the film Penn & Teller Get Killed, which features the two magicians playing a succession of increasingly elaborate practical jokes on each other with a fatal conclusion.
• The song was recited in The Fighter, when Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale) sings to his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) after attempting to run away because of his crack addiction.
• The song appeared in a one of the sketches in MTV's The State comedy television show.

Faith No More cover

"I Started a Joke"
Single by Faith No More
from the album Who Cares a Lot?
Released	September 21, 1998
Format	CD
Recorded	Early 1995
Genre	Easy listening
Length	3:03
Label	Slash
Writer(s)	Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb
Producer	Billy Gould Dean Menta
Faith No More singles chronology
"Stripsearch" (1997) "I Started a Joke" (1998)
Alternative cover

Faith No More originally covered "I Started a Joke" as a bonus track on some versions of their fifth studio album King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime but following the band's dissolution in 1998 it was released as their final single with their greatest hits album Who Cares a Lot?

Music video

The music video for it was filmed on 8 September 1998, after Faith No More had split up, and featured none of the band members except for Mike Patton in a brief cameo as "Michael from Barnsley". It was directed by Vito Rocco, filmed by Nick Sawyer with make-up by Julie Nightingale and Dani Richardson and had Gabi Norland as the clapper-loader. British actors Martin Freeman and Shaun Dingwall both feature in the promo, along with performance artist David Hoyle as the karaoke singer.

Track listing

Disc one

1. "I Started a Joke" – 3:03
2. "The World Is Yours" – 5:52
3. "Midnight Cowboy" (Live) – 1:01

Disc two

1. "I Started a Joke" – 3:03
2. "This Guy's in Love with You" (Live) – 4:20
3. "We Care a Lot" (Live) – 3:55

Live tracks recorded on 21 October 1997 at the Horden Pavilion, Sydney, Australia by MTV Australia.

Charts

Chart	Peak
UK Singles Chart	49
Australia ARIA Charts[citation needed]	58
New Zealand RIANZ Charts	38

Other cover versions

• Brazilian singer Ronnie Von had a Portuguese version, called Comecei uma Brincadeira and translated by himself, on his psychedelic-rock-album "A misteriosa Luta do Reino de Parassempre contra o Império de Nuncamais" from 1969.
• Between 1972 and 1974, this song was covered by Singapore-based female singer Ervinna, backing music by The Stylers, on her LP album Top Hits with the local White Cloud Record.
• Skibby did a reggae cover which has been released as part of the sampler CD set "It's Reggae" in 1996.
• In 1998 it was covered by Robbie Williams with The Orb (for a Bee Gees tribute album).
• In 2001, a cover by The Wallflowers was featured in the Zoolander movie soundtrack.
• Shannon Wright covered the song on Perishable Goods EP released in 2001.
• Richie Havens, Tim Rose, The Cascades, The Beautiful South, The Dirtbombs, Vonda Shepard, indie pop bands The Lucksmiths and Low, British singers Lulu and Kathryn Williams have also recorded covers of the song.
• Low covered the song with Mimi Parker on vocals and released it in the A Lifetime of Temporary Relief boxset
• There are several instrumental versions with Francis Goya on guitar in his album Romantic Guitar and James Galway on flute in his 1988 Greatest Hits album.
• Ventriloquist Terry Fator sometimes performs an excerpt as part of his live show, generally following Stayin' Alive
• Angela Chang, a popular Taiwanese singer, sang a cover of the song in her sixth studio album.
• Comedian Neil Hamburger released a 7" single of his country-western version of the song, backed by Nashville guitarist Dave Gleason and members of The Tubes.
• Micheal Castaldo recorded an italian version of the song on his 2010 album Aceto.

External links

• A short "I Started A Joke" background and song themes
• "I Started A Joke" interpretive study
• List of Bee Gees song parodies, including "I Started a Joke"